Hiding in plain site worked better almost always, depending on the case. Gin Kuroka had learned this over the years. Her face was once again wrapped in bandages, her hair tied in a braid and her outfit entirely changed to what it had usually been when she carried the name "Shinobu" not so long ago. This would have to be the default way that she entered and exited Konohagakure from the looks of it. She was being cautious for the time being. She knew that the best option for her was likely to leave the village as soon as possible - that had been her initial plan. However, once she caught word that her son was here, she had no choice but to stay. She wanted to see him, meet with him and possibly convince him to come with her to Kumogakure.

Truth be told, she missed the young boy, with his innocent outlook and childish behavior. It had been a while since any of her children had clung to her like that, had needed her to be there for them. It was refreshing. The fact that she could contact him without putting him in danger, for the most part, also made it easier to spend time with him. This was also why she wanted to meet with the boy. She knew little of how Konoha operated behind the scenes, but if Yuzu were to be taken as a hostage because she wasn't careful enough during her contract, the guilt would overwhelm her.

And so here she was, standing atop the Hokage Muntains, waiting. She had given a note to one of the urchins in the streets of Konnoha and had offered him some ryo if he gave the letter to someone who fit the description she provided him exactly. She had done so with several urchins - at least five of them - just in case. She had written the letter in an ink that would only gain its color and appear when it reacted to Ren's chakra. The meeting would remain private that way. All she had to do now was wait for the boy. Her little boy.

Gin felt very protective of the small blonde, just as much as she was for her biological children. She hoped that they would be able to meet soon. In a month or so, if all went well, that would happen. They would all be a happy family in Kirigakure. She could only hope that it would be that way. It would mean that she would be genuinely happy for the first time in a very long time.

For some reason he was not feeling so good, dressed in rags in order to perform one of his missions previously, he was walking along peacefully when all of a sudden he got cornered by a bunch of kids who surrounded him. The one kid whispered to them, "Hey, i don't want to do this it is wrong". The biggest boy then said, "We are hungry and that mummy did not give us anything but the damn letter to give to this brat". The other boy then spoke, "Maybe if we take him hostage the woman will let us see her body, i would so tap that." The other two kids smiled as their perverted minds took over. "If we want some why not just take him right here, not like she will ever find out when we done with him." The other kid who whispered first then took out a knife shaking slowly. "Come with us, you our hostage". He was listening to the nonsense when one thing hit him, they said a mummy and a letter, after which he remembered when he met his mom back when she had her bandages on. He looked at the two fat perverted boys as they closed in on him as he just dodged both of them. The other main kid then shouted "Get him!!"

It was over in a second as four out of five of them were knocked out as he stood before the last street urchin who was about his age. "May i have the letter please", the little boy was scared of the other little boy as he handed the letter which made Yuzu smile for a moment before looking to the boy and hugging him. "Thanks", he then looked up for a bit, "take them to the hospital maybe Risu can help them, but go now before i change my mind about letting them live". The other boy bowed as he ran away, not bothering to contact the hospital. The four boys were found later that day and taken to the hospital where the only thing they remember is being hit by a giant eight foot shinobi monster. Not the truth, but with boys and their imagination what could you expect.

He quickly tried to find something good to wear, but he remembered he forgot his clothes at Risu's place which was too far away. So he just got a robe and put it on over then ran towards the Hokage Mountain. He realised he may have taken the wrong route as he was looking up to a cliff. He sighed then began climbing up the mountain since he was tired of always running up the mountains all the time. It took him long since he was not really used to climbing as he needed to gain more strength to carry himself up the steep cliffs, when he began to reach higher up the mountain he noticed someone waiting near the top, on the other end of where he was. He did not know how to get there other than to do something to make his mother see that he was here, he shouted as the sound echoed through the mountains. "Mom....my..... mommy........ mommy..!!!!"

The wind carried his voice across, but just to make sure he placed his palm against the cliff and used Raiton Suteki Shoten as lightning rose away from the cliff and the sprouted like a christmas tree as he hoped his eyes were seeing clearly and that it was not some other shinobi, but his mother who he missed so so much.

Gin's heart almost stopped when she saw that all too familiar tuft of blonde hair climbing up the ledge of the Hokage's faces. She smiled as she watched him from atop the hill. He was almost up to the top, so it wouldn't take long for him to reach her. It was just like him to take the most unconventional - and not necessarily easiest - way to do things. She wouldn't have been alerted to his presence if he hadn't yelled out for her.

The young woman stepped back, letting her little boy rise through the air and land gracefully in front of her. She would hardly give him any time to recover before going up to him and wrapping her arms tightly around his thin frame. "Oh Ren! I've missed you so much!" She said as she hugged him, kissing the top of his head affectionately. She wouldn't let go of him for a while. it had been a while since she had last seen him and a lot had happened since.

She had gone to rescue Chie and Reiko and had sent them back on their way to Sunagakure to keep an eye on both Shinji and Ki- Misao. Kiku had changed her name to Misao. She had to remind herself of that constantly whenever she thought of her youngest daughter. She would have never really guessed that the young girl would have wanted to join a religious order. The young woman hadn't been too happy about the idea when the silver haired twins told her, but there was little that she could do. Besides, she prided herself on giving her children the freedom they needed to find their own paths. Ren was no different.

Truth be told, she had known little f him ever since they had parted ways in Kirigakure. To think that they would meet up again in Konohagakure of all places. She let Ren go, though reluctantly. "What have you been up to, love? Tell me all about it!" She said. Her smile was largely hidden by her bandages, but there was a light in her eyes that would make it obvious that she was happy.

His mom gave way as he landed in front of her, after his long ordeal to reach the top. Things did not go as planned, while he was going to run up to her with a hug she attacked first landing her hug perfectly as he realised how strong she was. If it had been anyone else he would have shocked them with lightning, especially when he felt like he could never ever escape her enchanting embrace. She said how much she missed him and planted a kiss on his forehead, he was struggling to hold back his tears as he manned up even though his eyes were rather watery.

He was about to cave in when she finally let go and asked what his been up to, he was at a loss of words as he rubbed his eyes quickly so that the tears would be gone as he sniffed slightly. He then began telling her a bit about what happened.

"Well, mom, i sort of was coming here to train with Mitsuhide-sensei. I tried really hard but i could not find him anywhere and i even heard this rumor that there is a new Hokage in the village. I can not believe someone else is the Kage, he is nearly as strong as you and Aya-ne." He paused for a moment then blushed. "I mean Mizukage-sama". He had been gone so long he forgot he was suppose to still use respect with her name, although he went a bit far he could have just said Aya-sama. He began to think what else happened and then his eyes lit up a bit. "I met this girl who has this pet snake, she is white like a sheet of paper. She is really nice and i got to play and sleepover by her place, and we went shopping but wish it could be more fun. I had to kill a bunch of bandits, and more bandits, and the village keeps giving me missions to kill bandits like they everywhere. Oh and this other day this lady tried to adopt me during a mission and i nearly failed the mission cause i said no i already have a mom, and she knew i had a mom, but she did not care and let me sleep in her mansion. I think she bugged me though cause one of her maids was following me and i got to fetch something later, i got some mail coming soon. Will you come with me to check it out mom please?"

In what was something that very much characterized him, Ren began to narrate the basics of everything he had done in a fast paced manner, barely taking any breaths in between sentences and quickly jumping from one subject matter to the next. White like a sheet of paper... interesting. Gin would have to do a little bit of reconnaissance to figure out the kind of people that Ren was spending his time with. Better safe than sorry, after all. He was still too young to be a good judge of character, though he could easily fend for himself. Even so, she felt protective of him. He was still a kid, after all. Her kid.

She had heard about the Hokage's sudden disappearance - rumors, for the most part - but had found it hard to believe. Then again, Kage seemed to be dropping dead like flies these days. She supposed it was plausible. However, the former Kazekage had heard little about his potential replacement. Little did she know that it would end up being the very man she had fought the night before. Irony seemed to be the main theme that characterized her life.

"Well I can't blame that lady, my baby boy's the best there is," she said, picking Ren up by the waist and setting him so that he was sitting over her shoulders. He was small and relatively light already. To Gin's monstrous strength, it felt like she was carrying a feather on her shoulders. "But if she comes up again, I'll give her a piece of my mind. No one's taking you away from me, love," she said reassuringly. "Now where do you want to go? I can treat you to ice cream after," she offered as she began to walk towards the village itself.

He was so happy to hear her say he was the best there is, as he showed her his deepest secret that he never shows anyone, his smile as she then picked him up and sat him over her shoulders. He looked down to his mom a bit confused tilting his head slightly as if to ask something. She told him that no one would ever take him away from her as she asked him where he wanted to go and that she could treat him to some ice cream afterwords as she headed towards the village. He began pointing down over to the river as he spoke to her playfully as he was pulling on her hair a bit. A slight habit he picked up having gotten used to pulling on long hair, he finally opened his mouth.

"I got a place over by the river, but not sure if you would like to see it. I know its not like", as he pauses for a moment then looks to the side shyly and asks. "Is Sano going to be my dad?" as he had wanted to ask that since there was an incident

***Memory***
"Okay, how will you be paying for all this food you just ate kid?" As the strict man with a mistache stood there wondering why the staff let some scruffy kid into their eating estabolishment. "You are welcome to clean dishes, as well as this..." The man stopped as the boy took out this piece of paper he was told to show when buying food outside of Kiri. The strange yellow paper had some information written detailing that all the payments would be covered by SANOSUKE. The man then looked at the boy and said, "After all these years he actually got one of those girls pregnant, I think i need to take a better look, girls go entertain our guest please." The girls moved close surrounding him as he just asked for more food while chewing on his steakroll. The girls tried showing off their bodies slightly, but he seemed more interested in eating as the one girl said, "You sure you Sano's kid, i know your mom is probably just", the boy glared at her as she shut her mouth as another girl bowed her head and said, "Sorry, its just he has a reputation that is all, we do not talk about it outside though he does not want it to be spread everywhere even though everyone seems to know, though someone told me most of the girls are just lying and only a few are honestly girls who had been with him. Meanwhile the man grinned as he called in all his chefs as they came and showed him a bigger menu as he began pointing at all the food he could eat. The girls were not as disappointed in him ignoring them since they found it cute, innocent and interesting.
***MemoryEnd***

That day was one of the best eating days he had but it bothered him that they said Sano was his dad. Did Sano and his mommy have that kind of closeness between them as he looked to her wanting an honest answer. He wanted to know what Sano was to his mommy and he also started getting hungry as well. "Oh and mommy, can we also get something to eat please i am starving".

Gin began to walk towards the place Ren was pointing at. She walked at a normal pace, not bothering to run or to hurry towards the location. She listened to the young boy speak. So he had gotten himself a house in Konoha, huh? She would make a mental note to ask how that had happened later on. She was thrown off a bit when he stopped mid sentence. Gin knew that Ren had a tendency to be hyperactive and that his thoughts were often all over the place. However, the young woman wasn't expecting his next question at all. She stopped dead in her tracks and almost stumbled over her own feet.

Gin quickly regained her balance and sighed loudly. "Sano is... Sano is..."  what was Sano, exactly? Hell it was hard to tell. She had feelings for him of some type, but she hadn't quite sorted that out yet. She should have anticipated that Ren would start asking questions at some point. "Sano's a really good friend. Think of him as your uncle... for now, anyways. Who knows? Maybe one day he will be your dad," she commented offhandedly before realizing what she had just said. Had her face been visible, a deep crimson blush would have been showing on her cheeks.

Fortunately, Ren changed the subject himself. Well, that was a relief. "Alright, sweetheart, how about we go get some ramen, hm? After that, we'll get ice cream," Gin offered. She began walking towards Ichiraku - the only place she knew that served good ramen. There was a moment of silence between the mother and her child. It suddenly dawned on Gin that there was a specific reason why she had wanted to meet with the boy.

"Ren, love, I think it's best if you leave Konoha with me soon," she began. "Some people... bad people... are after your mom," well, that was a gross simplification of things, especially considering what she had done just the night before. "Those people might want to use you to get to me. It's dangerous for us to stay," she explained.

She was walking in the direction he wanted her to go nice and slowly as he slightly yelped in pain, his feet were scratched a bit from the climb as some blood dripped but he kept it hidden just gripping tighter to his mom. She then stopped when he asked her about Sano and she finally began to answer somewhat nervously, he found this strange and could not figure out why she was hesitating. She said that Sano was a really good friend and his uncle, but one day he will be his dad. He got confused a bit mentioning that he was hungry while he tried to make sense of a friend uncle dad combination as he kept thinking about Sano the friend uncle dad sensei... He loved his mom hugging her hoping not to make her too nervous. She offered to take him to have some ramen and ice cream and he just nodded slightly to that and said , "Yes" since he realised she probably could not see him nodding that well. She then mentioned that they should leave Konoha because she got in trouble again, but he was not sure what trouble it was but it must have been really bad, he wanted to go with her but was not sure where they were going. "Mom where are we going?" he looked confused before yelping again as he sniffed slightly, currently with his body relaxed he was reacting to the pain more naturally then what his training made him normally ignore. "Mom, i think i hurt my foot" as he finally found the courage to admit that he was hurt and then before she could even answer to that he said with a slight whiny nature, "Mooom, can we eat soon my tummy hurts more", he adopted the word tummy as a result of trying to be a better child. Then again he also used it cause it was a bit shorter and sounded better as he also wanted to write a song about it later in secret. His mom might have already found out about his secret poems since he littered their place in Kirigakure with them. What would his mother do and how would she react to all the things mentioned at once.